The Chicago Bears' loss to the Detroit Lions was devastating. The team blew a 12-point lead in about four minutes of play, giving up 17 unanswered points to close out the game. The loss should lead to the eventual firing of Matt Eberflus, which may be what some fans view as a positive. There are some other positive takeaways from the loss.
3. The Chicago Bears continue to see their draft position get better
Thursday night's win over the Carolina Panthers was great because the team was able to beat a team when they had their draft pick. Chicago won and still saw their draft value increase. This week, that was not the case. So, this is not the worst-case scenario.
The Bears competed hard, some players showed progress, and they lost. At this point, from the fan perspective, this is as good at it can get. The Bears losing hurts, but the Panthers losing is the real positive. As they stand right now, the Bears will have the first and fourth picks in the 2023 NFL draft. It is going to be hard for any team to top the Panthers at this point, too.
The Cardinals lost on Sunday but they are playing much better with Kyler Murray and could win a few games later. The New England Patriots play the New York Giants, and one of those teams will step out of the competition for the top pick. When you add in that look like a disaster on the football field you could see the Bears retain the number one overall pick. That is never the worst possible outcome.
Seeing the younger players develop, watching the Panthers lose, and the Bears keeping their picks in the top five is the best case for December considering the way September and October went. All three of those things happened on Sunday.
2. The Chicago Bears two big additions have looked good
The Chicago Bears made two big swings in the past calendar year. After the Chase Claypool trade turned into a complete fiasco it was fair for Bears fans to be cautious about the potential of Ryan Poles tossing away draft capital for more players. His last two moves have been pretty solid so far, though.
First, the DJ Moore trade was a no-brainer. As we noted, the fact that the Panthers pick is likely the first overall pick makes it an easy trade. Adding DJ Moore into the mix makes it so much better.
Moore has been excellent. He had the best game of his career against Washington in week five, and it looked like he finally had a legitimate quarterback. Then, in week six Justin Fields got hurt. Moore produced what he could given the situation, but it was clear he missed Fields. Once Fields returned Moore came back and picked up 96 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. Fields was 7-9 for 96 yards throwing at Moore, and 9-14 for 73 yards elsewhere.
Montez Sweat was the next big move. It was weird to see the Bears buy with their record, but with an extension in place, the deal had future implications. Sweat had seven pressures against Carolina and added a sack Sunday.
Moore and Sweat are the two best players on the roster as it stands right now, and they both produced on Sunday. Building blocks are being established.
1. The Chicago Bears defense was creating turnovers
The Chicago Bears defense had just nine takeaways and the team as a whole was -9 in turnover differential. It is the worst differential in the NFL. On Sunday, the Bears had four turnovers and led in differential by three.
In some ways, this is a bad thing. The Bears really lost a game with four turnovers. It was essentially handed to them. Still, the defense did their job, but they cannot control the offense. The fact that the defense did take the abll away is important.
This is the second game the secondary has played together due to health issues across the board. This is the third game of Montez Sweat. The defense is not elite yet, but they are showing progress. Will that continue, and can they put together a complete game against an offense that is better than the Carolina Panthers? We will see, but the takeaways are encouraging and the defense could finish with a lot more in the final seven games than the first ten.